Carver takes charge of his third game at Chelsea today and has been told to expect to stay at the helm for next Saturday's game at home to Southampton as well.

Owner Mike Ashley has asked chief scout Graham Carr and managing director Lee Charnley to handle the selection process but no time-scale has been set.

Carver would love the job on a permanent basis and believes if he's still holding the reins at the end of the season, he'll have convinced the hierarchy to stick with him.

But he fears the longer they take to make a decision, the more damaging it will be for the club.

"When I had a conversation with Lee, I said you can't allow this to go on and on and on," said Carver. "They understand that.

"But what they're not going to do - and rightly so - is make a rash decision and say 'we'll take him'.

"They need time to do their due diligence and trust me to do the job while they have their thinking time.

"But I've been in this situation before and if you don't do something about it in a short space of time, you can end up drifting.

"And what football clubs can't be doing is drifting so a decision has to be made sooner rather than later for everybody's benefit."

“I have enough belief in myself and enough time that they'd then say to me 'you've done a good job, keep the job”

John Carver

Carver had a spell as head coach at MLS outfit Toronto six years ago and insists that despite Carr having discussed candidates such as former Lyons boss Remi Garde and St Etienne's Christophe Galtier, he has the right credentials too.

He added: "I've got the UEFA Pro Licence and I've worked with some of the best people in the game - Keegan, Dalglish, Gullit, Sir Bob. Good, top people, with different styles of management.

"That experience is another part of my qualification.

"If they said to me to take the job until the end of the season, I'd be prepared to do that, no danger of that.

"I have enough belief in myself and enough time that they'd then say to me 'you've done a good job, keep the job.'

Carver has yet to win in his latest caretaker stint and accepts that to be a serious contender, that needs to change.

"Not many teams go to Chelsea and win but I might have to beat Southampton at home," he said. "As long as we're seen to be heading in the right direction, that's enough for me."

Carver expects a warm welcome from Jose Mourinho this afternoon.

He said: "Every time he sees me, he gives me a kiss and a cuddle because he regards me as Sir Bobby's man, like himself."